Ousted Albay gov seeks status quo order anew
OUSTED Albay Governor Noel Rosal reiterated his plea to the Supreme Court to issue a status quo ante order (SQAO) to allow him to reassume or be reinstated to the position of Governor of the Province of Albay while his petition assailing the decision of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) that disqualified him is still pending before the court.
In a 24-page Extremely Urgent Motion Reiterating the Issuance of SQAO, Rosal, through his lawyers, Romulo Macalintal and Antonio Carlos Bautista asked the court to respect the manifest will of the electorate of Albay where he garnered a resounding 469,481 votes as against his closest rival’s 238,746 votes or a commanding vote-lead of 230,735 votes, despite a pending disqualification during the election.
Rosal asked the court to “apply the very recent decision of the court in the disqualification case of the mayor of Agoo, La Union where the court resolved all doubts in favor of the manifest will of the people electing the latter as their mayor despite a pending disqualification case.”
Rosal said that, “like the ousted Mayor of Agoo, La Union who was reinstated by the Supreme Court, I was decisively elected by the people of the Province of Albay as their Governor despite the pendency of a disqualification against me with a commanding 469,481 total votes. Hence, all doubts should likewise be resolved in favor of the manifest will of the people of Albay who elected me as their Governor.”
